Tablets reviews
My criteria
- 7″ or 8″ form factor – suits little hands and lowers cost
- at least 1 GB RAM and 8 GB built in storage – refer to glossary and previous articles on what this means. Many tablets targeted at kids are lacking in grunt e.g. only 512mb of RAM. This really cripples the device and kids will notice.
- up to date version of the OS and access to upgrades plus an apps market that offers diversity and quality
- WiFi only – this lowers cost and how many little kids really need access to a mobile data plan that could blow out of control
- quad core processor to make it fast enough – once again, kids will notice
- at least 1280 x 800 px resolution for reasonable clarity
Comparisons
Over the next few posts, I will review three tablets that believe are value-for-money choices according to the criteria set out above.
The first one up for our 2015 revisit is …
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 – a classic Android tablet
| OS | Android 4.4 (aka KitKat) |
| CAMERA RESOLUTION (FRONT) | 1.3 Megapixel |
| CAMERA RESOLUTION (REAR) | 3 Megapixel |
| DIGITAL OPTICAL ZOOM | 4x Digital |
| BATTERY TYPE AND SIZE | 3.8 Volt, Lithium Ion, 4000 mAh |
| MUSIC PLAY TIME | Up to 190 Hours |
| VIDEO PLAY TIME | Up to 7 Hours |
| INTERNET USE TIME | Up to 10 Hours |
| INTERNAL MEMORY | 1.5GB RAM, 8GB or 16GB storage |
| EXTERNAL STORAGE CAPACITY via MicroSD card | Built-in MicroSD card slot to add removable storage up to 32GB via an SD card |
| WIFI | Dual-Band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n |
| BLUETOOTH | 4.0 LE |
| LOCATION TECHNOLOGY | GPS |
| PROCESSOR SPEED, TYPE | 1.2 GHz Quad-Core |
| MAIN DISPLAY RESOLUTION | 1280 x 800 px |
| MAIN DISPLAY SIZE | 7-inch, 8 inch |
| MAIN DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY | WXGA TFT |
| TOUCH SCREEN | Yes |
| GPS NAVIGATION | Yes |
The cameras are a bit wimpy and the screen resolution is not fantastic but I don’t think either of these is a deal killer in this price range.
Overall, it’s a nice little unit and meets the criteria given above. It is easy to find a good kid-friendly case and other accessories as needed. You can use apps to set it up so that you can turn the kids loose on it, yet still reclaim it for yourself once the kids are off at school or in tucked up in bed.
Price range: about $150 – $250
➡ Note: All prices are in Australian dollars.